I attended the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) annual conference two weeks ago in Nashville, TN and with a wide-range of interesting sessions, I found it challenging to decide which talks and panels to pick! I originally saw the title of this panel-- "How Does She Do It?"-- and worried they would repeat the same mantras we always hear surrounding work-life balance. But, there was free breakfast (yay!) and it was one of the few panels I could fully attend on Saturday prior to my flight home-- so I went.

I was completely surprised and this session ended up being one of my favorites of the conference. The women on stage, in addition to being accomplished engineers, were open and honest with the audience in telling their stories. And although some of the themes are familiar ones, I really enjoyed hearing from these women and I think you will too.

I split the conversation up into bite-sized pieces, dubbing them podcast "bite-casts". These are the women you will be hearing from.As seated in the photo above from left to right:

“There is no such thing as balance. But there is order and organization.”
​-- Camille

"Mission before men, Christmas will begin when you get here."
​ -- Peggy

“It ended in a divorce because he didn’t know what he signed up for."
-- Cheryl

“I think the number one thing [I considered] in every career move is to love what I do and have a passion around it.”
​ -- Lori

“Do the job you’re doing today really, really well.”
​​ -- Lori

“I have four girlfriends. We text each other every day...We'll say stuff [like], 'Hey diva, did you kill it today?'”
​ -- Camille

“Once you make a choice, believe in it.”
​ -- Lori

“At different stages in your life, you do different things.”
​ -- Lorraine

“I was always feeling like I wasn’t in the right place.”
​ -- Cheryl​

​“I may not be here, but I will always get my work done.”
​ -- Heather

“I would look around the house and it was like squirrels had been living there the entire time I had been gone. I come home from four weeks in Russia and I spent the first few days getting the house back in order!”
​​ -- Peggy

“When you are pregnant, and before you go out on maternity leave, set expectations with your supervisor for what you expect when you come back.”
​​​ -- Heather

“Don’t lose who you are.”
​ -- Cheryl

If you are interested in learning more (and getting further background information on these women's lives), you can also watch a YouTube feed of this panel, provided by SWE.